Looking for a 'better' job: Job-search activity of the employed

Monthly Labor Review

Volumn 123, Issue 9, 2000, Pages 3-14

  Meisenheimer II, Joseph R ^a   Ilg, Randy E ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0039107495     PISSN: 00981818     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (11)

1. The main purpose of the CPS is to obtain information on employment, unemployment, demographics, earnings, and other characteristics of the labor market in the United States. The Census Bureau conducts the CPS and the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzes and publishes the data. In the CPS, most of the unemployed are persons who do not have a job, but are available for work and have actively sought employment in the 4 weeks prior to the monthly administration of the survey. The CPS also obtains information on the demographic characteristics of the unemployed, their reasons for unemployment, the length of their job search, the types of job-search methods they have used, the occupations and industries in which they previously had worked, and more. For information on how national unemployment estimates are compiled from the CPS, see How the Government Measures Unemployment, Report 864 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 1994), available on the Internet at: http://stats.bls.gov/cps_htgm.htm. A more detailed technical explanation of the CPS is available in BLS Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2490 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 1997), pp. 4-14, available on the Internet at: http://stats.bls.gov/opub/hom/homhome.htm.
2. The main purpose of the CPS is to obtain information on employment, unemployment, demographics, earnings, and other characteristics of the labor market in the United States. The Census Bureau conducts the CPS and the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzes and publishes the data. In the CPS, most of the unemployed are persons who do not have a job, but are available for work and have actively sought employment in the 4 weeks prior to the monthly administration of the survey. The CPS also obtains information on the demographic characteristics of the unemployed, their reasons for unemployment, the length of their job search, the types of job-search methods they have used, the occupations and industries in which they previously had worked, and more. For information on how national unemployment estimates are compiled from the CPS, see How the Government Measures Unemployment, Report 864 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 1994), available on the Internet at: http://stats.bls.gov/cps_htgm.htm. A more detailed technical explanation of the CPS is available in BLS Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2490 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 1997), pp. 4-14, available on the Internet at: http://stats.bls.gov/opub/hom/homhome.htm.
3. For an analysis of the data from the May 1976 CPS, see Carl Rosenfeld, "The extent of job search by employed workers," Monthly Labor Review, March 1977, pp. 58-62.
4. Combining the employed jobseekers (5.1 million) with the unemployed jobseekers (5.6 million) means that 8.9 percent of the wage and salary labor force was seeking a new job in February 1999. Also, note that the number of unemployed jobseekers is less than the total number of unemployed wage and salary workers because the total includes persons who are expecting recall from a layoff, but have not actively looked for a job. Although the vast majority of unemployed persons actively sought employment in the 4 weeks prior to the survey, persons expecting recall from a layoff need not have actively searched for a job to be counted as unemployed.
5. Defined-benefit plans legally obligate employers to pay retirees an annuity that is based on a formula specified in the plan documents. The size of the benefit usually depends on the retiree's pre-retirement salary and years of service with the employer. Defined-contribution plans typically specify how much an employer has agreed to contribute to each employed participant's individual plan account, but not the amount of benefits that will be paid during retirement. Many defined-contribution plans also permit employees to contribute to their own accounts, often on a tax-deferred basis. The size of the benefit each participant receives during retirement depends on the amount the employer and employee contributed to the plan and the investment earnings on the contributions. For a discussion of how length of service affects retirement benefit amounts, see William J. Wiatrowski, "Factors affecting retirement income," Monthly Labor Review, March 1993, pp. 25-35.
6. The May 1988 and April 1993 CPS supplements on employee benefits included questions about the characteristics of retirement plans. There is considerable doubt about the reliability of CPS information on the types of retirement plans in which workers participate, however. Many respondents to household surveys such as the CPS may not have sufficient knowledge of employee benefit plans and terminology to provide detailed information about their provisions. For this reason, the February 1995, 1997, and 1999 CPS supplements did not include questions on retirement plan type. For a discussion on collecting employee benefits information in surveys, see Diane E. Herz, Joseph R. Meisenheimer II, and Harriet G. Weinstein, "Health and retirement benefits: data from two BLS surveys," Monthly Labor Review, March 2000, pp. 3-20.
7. See Gary S. Becker, Human Capital (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, third edition, 1993).
8. Full-time workers are those who usually worked 35 hours or more (at all jobs combined). This group includes some individuals who worked fewer than 35 hours during the survey reference week for either economic or noneconomic reasons and those who are temporarily absent from work.
9. For further discussion of contingent workers, see Steven Hipple, "Contingent work: results from the second survey," Monthly Labor Review, November 1998, pp. 22-35.
10. Seasonally adjusted estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics survey.
11. Job-search data by industry and union affiliation for February 1995, 1997 and 1999 are available by contacting the authors by phone: (202) 691-7409; (202) 691-5456: or by e-mail, Meisen_j@bls.gov or Ilg_R@bls.gov.